"...The term despachante is derived from the Portuguese adjective meaning "efficient", which I confess may seem somewhat ironic at this point in our discussion. If you look up the word despachante in a Portuguese/English dictionary, it's generally defined as a "shipping agent", a "document agent" or a "customs agent"; however this term is more broadly used to refer to the middleman or facilitator of business transactions of all sorts.

In his book The Testament, much of which takes place in Brazil, but which I must confess I have not read, John Grisham provides a colorful description of the term despachante. Mr. Grisham writes that despachante is "a Portuguese term for a personal dispatcher, expediter, buyer, or runner.

"No official document is obtained in Brazil without waiting in long lines. A despachante knows the city clerks, the courthouse crowd, the politicians, and the customs agents. He knows the system and how to grease it to get things done. The job requires a quick tongue, patience, and a lot of brass."..."

The Canadian Expat Association has launched an online petition to pool our resources and fight the upcoming changes in the Canadian Citizenship laws. Please do sign, and pass this on to anyone you know who may either be themselves directly affected, or who could be in the future (this would be all Canadians, present or future). Over the past few weeks many of us have been working intensely to alert Canadians living around the world about changes to Citizenship and Immigration laws that will affect children of Expats born abroad. There has been significant headway gained with media both in Canada and abroad assisting in our efforts.

Individuals from around the world have been in contact with the association and several other Canadian organizations are working hard to encourage Expats and their relatives in Canada to write to Minister Jason Kenney and their local MP. This is working, as Citizenship and Immigration critics with both the Liberal Party and the NDP have expressed their support of Canadians living abroad.

On March 17th, the petition will be presented to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada Honorable Jason Kenney, (Liberal Critic) Maurizio Bevilacqua and (NDP Critic) Olivia Chow. We would also encourage you to forward this information to other Canadians living abroad and relatives in Canada.Please continue to write letters to the following individuals: